Friday, 16 April 2010

Everyone knows that Wiley is easily one of the best grime lyricists that Bow E3 has thrown up, but what many are not aware of is that he is also among the most talented and influential producers of the last decade aswell. Lauded by such respected and prolific talents as Hyperdub don Kode9, longtime grime producer Terror Danjah (whose latest release on Butterz is also definitely worth a cop) and the UK's longest standing bass music shape-shifter Kevin Martin, Wiley's production talents are not to be sniffed at. However, grime instrumentals are certainly an acquired taste and, as such, do not often bring much cause for release unless they feature an MC going over the beat. The upshot of this is that instrumental album releases are few and far between, and that many of Wiley's beats have never been released in their own right. This changes now, though, as (finally) Avalanche Music: Volume 1 gets a release. Twenty-two previously unreleased beats from the man himself which act not only as a collection of evidence of talent, a document in favour of the value of standalone grime instrumentals and a CD's worth of essential listening, but also as a template for anyone wanting to hone their production skills and take the next ten years by storm themselves.